


Finally Home

by RadScavver



Series: The Sole Survivor [9]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Torture, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Warning: Good Character goes Bad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-04
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 18:37:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18349406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RadScavver/pseuds/RadScavver
Summary: Deposed and recovering, a once proud General seeks out one of her most loyal followers...and learns that there's more hiding in the shadows of the banner she'd lead.





	Finally Home

The house truly is a...spectacle to witness. Solid walls-when had they fixed those up?-stand proud; the occasional window letting natural light inside. While high, the roof is a flat slant with mounted turrets of various types keeping watch. There’s a generator pressed to the side wall, nestled behind a heavily welded security cage. Several mirelurks clatter about calmly in the untouched cave-in. Robots, cobbled together and yet moving smoothly about, patrol the grounds. They mix peacefully with some livestock, hounds, and even a pair of deathclaws. Behind the home, a plain of golden razorgrain is dotted here-and-there with mutfruit trees, each of the grove bearing large plump fruits. The bountiful garden wraps around toward the old boathouse, where a workshop has clearly overtaken the space.

She can’t help but admire how lovely it all is.

“General!”

Nor can she deny her fondness for this adorable woman. Lieutenant “Rads” Cadriff looks healthier than the last time they’d seen each other. Her skin seems...brighter, smoother. The freckles dusting her cheeks and nose are almost golden now against skin more olive than ashen. Honey warm eyes spark and sizzle, but nowhere near as bright and violently as they had before. As the smaller woman rushes over, carefully steadying a swaddled bundle in her arms, the once-General can’t help but smile.

“Not a general anymore, Lieutenant,” she calls.

Rads scoffs, shaking her head and sending cotton-candy pink curls flying, “And I’m not a lieutenant anymore, either. You’re still my General, though.”

Blinking, stunned, she gapes at her. Rads had been one of the most loyal Minutemen in the force, only outweighed by Preston and the old lady. What had happened?  
Hesitant, feeling oddly naked without her suit to buffer her discomfort, she asks.

“They never tried to find you. Not once. But they still acted in your name,” Rads explains, bouncing her bundle gently. “Suddenly, we lieutenants weren’t in charge of our squads anymore. Greenhorns started getting uppity and more violent, and the next thing we knew they were more raider than minuteman. Everyone started fighting in-house. Most wanted to follow Big Hat Mc-Knows-the-Best because he was from the original stock, but my people knew who the real leader was.”

“Big Hat...what now?” Laughter is a lump in her throat, held down by the anxiety clinging to the back of her tongue.

“Garvey. After you went missing-don’t give me that look-and he stepped up, things went screwy. Those of us who _actually_ followed you fought against the changes he was making left and right.”

Rads pauses, expression darkening viciously. The other rears back in alarm, even though that careful rocking never changes. For a moment, she catches a flash of a reptilian head amidst the fabric.

“They killed my babies, General.”

Nausea climbs her throat. Rads eyes are haunting in the sunset, glittering with tears and feral gold.

“I was put in stocks and they murdered each one in front of me. If...if it weren’t for James…” Rads clears her throat roughly. “He’d gotten word from Payton before we were locked up. The damn fool had programmed a backup plan into his ‘bots. One push of a button and they wreak havoc.”

The once leader chokes out, “How did this happen? Why would they-?”

“C’mon, let’s go inside; get something to drink. We’re gonna need it.”

Rads spins around, leading the way up to the open front door. Along the way, one of the deathclaws sidles over to sniff at the bundle. It’s extraordinary, the hulking muscle so dark and unnatural compared to Rads, but said woman does little more than grin and pat the beast’s enormous head. One petitie hand strokes along the scaled hide before they separate. That’s when the Survivor notices the heavy scars littering its body. While the nuclear glow may draw the eye, they’re easy to see if one actually looks: thick and shiny and looking almost like polished stripes. Gloss splashed on matte. If she considers it, they look remarkably like her own reminders of Nuka World.

With a heavy swallow, she follows after Rads.

Inside is cozier than she expected. Various animals patter around; some even napping on surfaces covered in scrap and mechanical parts. She pauses outside a room that’s been turned into a nesting area, with several eggs and litters under heated lights. Rads is settling her charge amidst a trio of similar bundles, but she’s quick to return to the hall and lead further into the house. James wanders by at one point, absently dipping to press a kiss atop Rads’ messy curls, then disappearing into a room with the sparking carcass of an assaultron slumped against a wall. The women emerge into a kitchen that’s oddly clean.

“Go on, have a seat at the table,” Rads urges, heading for a cabinet.

As she digs about in the cupboard, the Survivor gingerly settles on a creaky wooden chair. She jumps when two glasses thump down onto the scuffed linoleum table top.  
Rads fills them both, leaving the bottle within easy reach. Without a word, they both raise their drinks in salute and slam them back.

Cup clacking back down, Rads sighs, “General, I-”

“Please, Rads,” she interrupts, “please…call me Nora.”

It’s like staring down a jungle cat, meeting those eyes. They’re intent and powerful, searching for something, even as she pours them both another round. Suddenly, Rads grins.

“It’d be my pleasure, Nora.”

The tremulous joy that blossoms in her chest will be the last bit of happiness Nora feels for the rest of the night.


End file.
